This was posted by ?uestlove a little while ago on the OkayPlayer Message Boards. It’s about the creation of the beat for the Black Star track “Little Brother.” Enjoy.

there was a small airport in detroit that had direct flights to jersey and nyc that me and com use to take so much i swear they were gonna offer us stock in the business. it was early 1999 and this was before the jet blueitization of america. matter of fact, america looked down on those small companies after one of them crashed some months before. now we take that shit like its no thing.

anywho. we got word of a blizzard that was coming to the D and com wanted to take no risks and wanted to leave asap so he could make a show. so that left me dilla and frank of frank n dank.

i decided to stick to my normal schedule and stay til monday when i was scheduled to leave. Continue reading →

Though the family hasn’t released any formal announcements, industry sources say that Michigan rap pioneer MC Breed died in his sleep last night.

He was hospitalized to treat kidney failure in September, after collapsing during a pick-up basketball game in Atlanta. TMZ reported that Breed’s kidneys were only 30% functional, and manager Daryl Morris said that he was planning a benefit concert to pay for a transplant. He was taken off of life support days later as his condition improved.

Born Eric Breed, the Flint, Mich. rapper was one of the first successful rappers to emerge from the Midwest. AllMusicGuide’s web site lists his single “Ain’t No Future In Yo’ Frontin'” as peaking at 66 in the Billboard’s Top 100 in 1991, and his song “Just Kickin It” would land in its Top Rap Singles charts the following year. He would work with the likes of 2Pac, Too $hort and George Clinton throughout his extensive, ten-plus album career. Continue reading →